The Importance of List Building and Email Marketing for Virtual Assistants

What makes list building so great for virtual assistants? It’s a fabulous marketing tool for building the know, like and trust factor, and for turning interested people into clients for your VA business.

Find out all the details in this video (or read the transcript below):

Full transcript:

It’s Alicia here at New VA Advice. I’m stopping in with some tips and advice about list building. I want to cover why you should consider building a list.

What is list building and email marketing?

It means that people are voluntarily giving you their email address and information, so that you can then contact them via email. You would use some type of list building software.

A person would enter their name and email address to get more information from you. That is saved in your system. Then you can email them with tips and information. That’s the idea. They are giving you permission to show up in their inbox.

Why consider list building as a marketing tool?

First, email marketing is very much alive and well. When people email their list, they can make money off that list. You can turn those people into clients. This goes for a number of industries. It does work for the virtual assistant industry as well. I am an example of that. It’s one of the marketing methods that I used to build my VA business. It’s something that I still use now to build my coaching business at New VA Advice. I do know other virtual assistants who have used it successfully to get clients into their business. This still works well for people.

Is email marketing salesy?

Email marketing doesn’t have to be sleazy or salesy. It doesn’t have to take up much of your time. It doesn’t need to be inauthentic. You can do this in a natural way that fits in with what you do for clients and how you like to create content to put out there. It’s the special way that you connect with people. You can be yourself and be more natural. You can do that. This is how I’ve used email marketing and list building. This is how I teach people to do it.

You don’t own Facebook.

You always hear about Facebook changing their algorithm. Everyone gets worried. People say, “No one is seeing my Facebook business page. What am I going to do?” If Facebook changes their algorithm or closes down tomorrow, if you have your own list, then that’s okay. You don’t own the information on Facebook. It’s not yours. It’s theirs. You may be making connections with people on Facebook. Maybe you run a group or you’re in a group. You have contacts on your page. If they shut down, that’s not yours. It’s not your information. But if you get them on your list, you own that list. It is yours. No one can take that away from you. It wouldn’t matter what happens in social media or what changes might occur. You have your own list. Yes, you can use social media to promote and get people on your list. That’s a great idea to do it that way. The list is yours. You own it.

Stay top of mind.

Another reason to consider list building is that it helps you to stay top of mind. I know you’re probably thinking that there are other VAs who do what you do. No one will do it exactly like you. No one has your backstory and experience. No one offer with the exact same services with the exact same market and will execute things the exact same way. No one is exactly like you. Showing up in their inbox will keep you top of mind. You won’t have to worry so much about who else is out there that does what you do. These people are on your list. You’re stopping in their inbox and staying in their brain.

People won’t forget about your website.

This is also helpful if you’ve spent a lot of time creating a website. You get it up and live, and you hear nothing. You see that people are stopping by, but no one is filling out your contact form or reaching out to you for your services. People need time to get to know, like and trust you. Give them a great free reason to sign up for your list while they’re visiting your site. Then they won’t go away and forget you. Without that, they could visit your site and get distracted. They might leave. They might think, “I don’t need this right now, but I might in the future. I’ll try to remember her site for later.” They won’t have to try and remember your site for later if they sign up for your list. Then you’re visiting their inbox. You’re staying top of mind all the time.

Show them you’re the expert.

It’s also going to help show them that you know how to perform the services that you offer. You’ll be talking about those things when you email your list. When you do so, it will prove that you know what you’re talking about. It will help to build that know, like and trust factor.

Warm up cold leads.

Let’s say that someone visits your website. They’d like to work with you in the future, but they don’t need your service right now. If they’re on your list, they will remember you when they do need you. This has happened for me. People have been on my list for 6 months. All of a sudden, I will get an email that says, “Hey, you emailed about such-and-such. I’ve been following you for a while. I’m finally ready now. I really need your help with X. Can we talk about it?” This is no longer a cold lead. You’re not making cold calls or cold emails to someone. This is someone who has said that they’re interested in what you have to offer. They want to know more about you, and what you know. They might not need your services right now, but if they stay on your list and you keep in contact with your list, they could become a client down the road. This has happened for me in my business before.

Keep communicating.

You’ve probably heard in marketing that it takes people seven to nine touches before you make a sale. In other words, they need to have contact with you several times before that know, like and trust factor sinks in. Then they want to work with you. Being able to communicate with them through your list is a great way to stay top of mind and get those touches in, so that they eventually become clients.

Hopefully this gives you some reasons why you should consider list building as part of your marketing efforts. It doesn’t have to be sleazy or salesy. It doesn’t have to be all-consuming of your time.

You should come up with a marketing plan that makes the most sense for you and your business based on:

The services that you offer

The time you have available

The type of clients that you want to reach

How they will best be reached

Very often, email marketing and list building will fit into that plan. You just have to know how to do it.

We are going to do this together. Instead of just reading information or trying DIY, I’m there helping you through it. We’re going to touch on certain points about list building.

We’ll focus on creating your free offer, because it’s a great way to get people on your list. I know that part stumps a lot of people. We’re going to work on your free offer together.

We’ll talk about how to get traffic to the list. Then we’ll talk about what to email your list. You will get action steps. You will get videos with me explaining how to execute each part. Then you get to check in with our private Facebook group. That’s your accountability, but also a place to ask questions if you get stuck.

About Alicia Jay

Alicia Jay is a WAHM virtual assistant who is passionate about helping other women along their VA journey. She’s already dealt with the overwhelm and the scammers and wants to be that trusted resource for you so that you can skip all of that and build your business! CLICK HERE to sign up for VA tips, news and info as well as THREE awesome resources to help get your VA biz started and getting clients!